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Index gives insight into Australian regions

The Regional Australia Institute says its new index shows the effect of the mining boom, but it's not the only marker of competitiveness in regional Australia.

ABC News

A new website has been launched, comparing each region of the country according to their competitiveness.

The Regional Australia Institute's [In]Sight index and interactive map compares regions across 10 categories, including access to infrastructure and services, the economic health of the region and capability of its local workforce, its technological and innovation capacity, and its natural resources.

The Institute says it is the first time that empirical data has been collected and collated in such a way as to provide a comprehensive picture of the economic shape of Australia's regional areas, and which areas might be most attractive to potential investors.

The Institute's federal manager of research and policy, Jack Archer says it's about regional Australia being prepared for growth.

"We've got an open economy, and so we're competing in international markets based on a whole range of industries and things that we have in different regions," he said.

"We know, from international evidence which has looked at how much different regions around the developed world contribute to national growth, that if you've got good human capital, if you're engaging with technology, if you can connect with markets through infrastructure and if you're being innovative, then it doesn't matter what point in the economic cycle you're at; if an opportunity presents itself then it's much more likely the region will be able to take advantage of that."

Mr Archer says most of the regional strengths and weaknesses identified in the index will probably come as no surprise to the communities themselves.

He says the value for communities will be in being able to compare themselves with, and learn from, similar communities elsewhere in the country, and in the information being easy for communities to access.

"For the first time [the index means] we can see how varied and diverse regional Australia is, we can see the differences between towns and regions right next to each other.

"The challenge now is to use this understanding of diversity to respond and get the right solutions for different regions, rather than just relying on broad averages," Mr Archer says.

"In our modern, open economy, governments can only do so much.

"Regions have to chart their own destiny and co-opt governments to help them out in that, but the future of regional Australia is in the hands of the people who are there.

"We really want to put this information in their hands so they can use it and get on with the job."

The index has been welcomed by government, farming and business groups today.

The Regional Australia Institute is an independent think tank, set up 18 months ago using seed-funding from the Federal Government.

It developed the index with Deloitte Access Economics, based on the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Index, using data from sources such as the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the Social Health Atlas of Australia, Geographical Information Systems (GIS) calculations, My Schools websites, and the Regional Australia Institute's Survey of Regional Business Conditions and Perspectives on Regional Development.